March 20, 2009 |

The Swinging Bunt

Maryland marches on! Gary Williams, Greivis Vasquez, and the rest of the Terps are headed to the 2nd Round of the NCAA tournament. That’s an amazing statement considering where this team has come from this season to get to this point. The entire season has been one giant thrill ride, with ups and downs around every turn. Maryland never threatened to crack the top-25 after their home loss to Morgan State in the first week of January and now is 1 of the final 32 teams still competing for a national championship. It really is an amazing credit to Gary and his guys, that every player on the team is maximizing their talent levels. As Glenn would say, “Don’t worry, Gary gets it.” If nothing else, this team has certainly quieted the critics!

OV’s stick is too hot! In last night’s Caps’ 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning Alexander Ovechkin became just the third player in NHL history to register 50 goals in 3 of his first 4 seasons in the league. However, what seems to have gotten the most attention is what The Great 8 did to celebrate hitting the half century mark. He laid his stick down on the ice and proceeded to fan it off with his hands as if the stick was on fire. Mental images of track star Maurice Green taking a fire extinguisher to his running shoes after winning a 100 meter dash. Personally, I didn’t think it was too much, I liked it. I’m a casual 23-year old hockey fan and Ovechkin is by far my favorite player in the league… a sentiment shared by many of my friends. Whether people like it or not, he’s got the best chance for making the NHL as mainstream as it possibly can be, and whether it’s premeditated goal celebrations or the flare he plays with every night… he’s electric and charismatic, and the MAN.